You guys, when do you ship your kids off to preschool? Ezra will be 2 1/2 in October, and we weren't planning on starting school until next year (so he'd be about 3 1/2 then). But we saw friends this weekend, and they asked if Ezra was excited for school this fall. When we told them we didn't have plans for schooling this year, they seemed completely shocked!

There are a couple of places that will take toddlers at 2 1/2 around here, but they really seem more like daycares and not a structured environment at all. Ezra isn't at that age yet where he's interested in interacting with others much, and I can't imagine him enjoying an assigned naptime... and if we're going to be paying thousands of dollars worth of tuition, I want him to get something out of it!

This is how it normally goes, right? Preschool at 3-3 1/2? We were all ready for that, but this couple acted like we were the Worst Parents Ever when we told them our plan.

Really depends on the kid and the family. It would not have occurred to me to send E to preschool if I hadn't gone back to work... Though he has always been so socially geared that maybe we would've thought of it eventually.

It might be old fashioned, but I feel like kids have their whole lives to go to school/be away from their parents etc. If you don't need/want the break from him and he doesn't seem like he needs the social atmosphere, why bother?

yeah a friend of ours was freaking out because they missed the deadline for getting into a preschool here, and I was so confused 'cause their daughter is only 2.5. My friend said amid the freakout "I'm NOT homeschooling this kid" and really seemed like she HAD to get away from the kid, which I can totally understand, but it made me feel weird because Dahlia's almost a year older! And we've toyed with the idea of sending her to at least a Y program or something. We've never done it for the very reason c&s talks about above, well that and a healthy dose of completely distrusting strangers with our kid. I feel bad about the fact that she doesn't get to play with other kids very often and kinda observes them at the playground like they're some fascinating other species, but also one thing we've run into is that all the preschools here mostly have full days, no doubt to accommodate working parents. But neither Howard nor I are ready to have her be away from us from 8:30-3pm!

in short, I don't really know what my point is, other than I totally get how flava feels...

I'm with coldandsleepy on this one, I don't see any need to send kids to school super young. We didn't send Shae to preschool at all, kindergarten was his first foray away from home and me. He didn't suffer at all because of it. Silas will be 4 in October and most likely won't be going to preschool at all either.

Henry is going off to daycare in about a week and a half (5 months). If I could stay at home with him, I would definitely choose to do that, but we both need to work. The only reason we can (barely) afford it, is that I work at the daycare and get a discount. He's been at home with his Papa since I went back to work at 9 weeks, it definitely helps knowing he'll be two classrooms down from me.

Leela is sleep farting as she nurses and I want to laugh so hard. Also, it reminds me of my friend whose NB farted constantly - these long ripping farts. We went over for dinner shortly after he was born, and politely ignored the incredibly loud farts for about 30 mins after which we spent the whole dinner laughing as the baby farted. It was one of the best dinners I've ever been to. His mom told us she'd taken him to Tiffany's as her first excursion out after he was born and the minute he felt the cold AC air, he farted so loud it echoed in the quiet of the venerable institution. She said everyone looked at her aghast, and she just backed the stroller back through the doors.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

My sister-in-law's nephew (6 months or so at the time) was farting extremely loudly during her wedding. He was sitting up front, and I had to do a reading, and although it seemed like I was trying to hold back tears with my trembling voice during the video, I was actually trying not to burst into laughter.

_________________"Noooo! Karyn, you have to stop posting old Jensen pics. He looks way too smooth in those pics, like if I touch his face it'll feel like silk or bosoms or something."-mixmaster_moIt's Raining Kale

A. farts all the time really loud and really hard. Sometimes she wakes herself up because they're so loud, or you can see her little bum go up in the air. She was at my job for a little and I went to say hello to my boss and she farted the entire time he and I were talking. It was kind of embarassing. Ah, good times! lol...

_________________Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. Buddha

Kindles are great for breastfeeding! I wish I'd gotten one sooner. I don't have a smartphone, but with the combination of my iPod (it has solitaire on it) and my kindle, I should be pretty set the next time I get pregnant (I spend a lot of late nights in the bathroom when I'm pregnant).